Sunday, May 27, 2012

Zou Bisou Bisou at the French Embassy

Zou Bisou Bisou is loosely translated "Oh, sweet kiss." For $20, I entered the French Embassy last night and drank two St-Germain cocktails.  I listened to some very interesting music by Margot MacDonald, watched a little burlesque, and listened to some sad French music played on a ukelele by Victoria Vox. She was accompanied by a cello and that, I believe, made all the difference.

This video doesn't have Katie the Cellist playing with her, but it's about a bull at a bullfight----at least, that's what Victoria said!
http://youtu.be/6Lb41kH4vL4

I loved the lace teepees and the fairy lights after it got dark. I loved the people watching. Lace shorts are very trendy right now.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Happy Mother's Day and Selective Sloth

My industrious children surrounded by evidence of my sloth.
I have a wonderful life.

I was reading this article from Kyria on sloth. Me, slothful? No way. But I'm guilty of selective sloth---"diligent in a few areas of [my life] while [I] procrastinate terribly in others."
I'm not guilty of maintenance procrastination, but I definitely fell into the developmental procrastination---and last year was my comeuppance. I was complaining a few weeks ago that I wished I'd felt the way I feel now last year. My colleague asked me if I would have taken the time to do what I've been working on this past year and I said no, my MO is to go full-tilt, balls-to-the-wall all out. "There you go," he said. "You have to pay the piper at some point."

Monday, May 7, 2012

Getting Cultured: Al Fresco for PM @The TM and Arias with a Twist

One of the things I promised myself upon return to the Real World was to take advantage of all the culture available in the DC area. I haven't been a slouch! Anna and I saw "Mr and Mrs Oki's Fabulous Trip" and ate sushi in the garden of the Textile Museum. Anna loved all the restaurants we passed (we got off at Dupont Circle) and wanted to stop at one before going home, but it was getting late.
Unfortunately, this picture was taken before we sat down, but we were at the far end of the picture, sitting behind the man in the white shirt who is holding his arm up to his head.

This is a lot of fun and we would do it again! I'm scheduled to attend a lecture at the TM on 31 May: Faces, Mazes and Neural Networks. I think I'm going to have become a member.

I'm also on the Korean Embassy list for events. The next night I was scheduled to attend "Arirang: 17 Women Artists, Opening Reception  Gallery Talk." Unfortunately, I also scheduled myself to attend the show at Woolly Mammoth, "Arias with a Twist." That wouldn't have been a problem normally, but the Metro started single-tracking early and I left work late, so I didn't want to chance missing dinner and the show. That meant I bailed on the reception.

That was the the wrong choice. I would have much preferred the reception to the show. The show had gotten rave reviews because of Basil Twist, a renowned puppeteer. If I wanted to watch a good puppet show, I should have chosen Petrushka or Dogugaeshi. The only good thing about it was the sheer pleasure of watching a drag queen who thoroughly enjoyed being a girl.