after my camping conversation post, my mom emailed me:
Just so you don’t feel left out, do you remember going out west and getting up at the crack of dawn to float down the river and view wildlife? Or stand by Old Faithful in rain ponchos, or drive through Lion Country Safari in the heat of summer, smelling the odiferous wildlife while they were mating? Camping has different meanings to different people, I thought Mickey Minnie and Donald were pretty wild.sadly, I don't remember the scent of wildlife going at it as we huddled closely together in our land rover, but i do recall tubing down the snake river and watching ol' faithful spout water tens of feet high. still, neither were camping in the roast-some-stew-over-an-open-fire and build-a-tent-while-fighting-off-bears-and-ticks sense of things.
we did, though, have a very nice time up near bodega bay, camping just about 50 feet from the ocean's edge. all through the night, we heard the whoompfh of the water soaring in and out, which was very calming, sort of like alphie purring at my feet at 3am only with less moisture...
and on our way up to bodega, we drove through sebastopol to try a veg restaurant (yum!), and then we passed by this school. it's real name is anal
y high school, but some kids went a little happy with their stickers...
saturday we drove to the east bay to buy a's tickets. when we got to the coliseum, we were told we had to pay to park b/c there was an event (but we'd get refunded if we left in a half hour). we shelled out our temporary $15 for parking, waited in line, bought our initial game tickets, witnessed several vertically challenged little mermaid-adorned girls excitedly skipping up the ramp, and realized that the disney princess wishes on ice tour must be in town. as we headed back to the car, we saw a little girl dressed in a yellow skirt and headband pulling her mom by the hand, and todd ever so poetically said, "it's like snow white went and did it with a dwarf."
Dancers, and ballet dancers at that, are normally known for being quiet. They leap quietly, wave and spin their arms to mime when it’s time to dance, and whisper like tiny mice while waiting in the wings. In “West Side Story Suite,” though, they sing, both as a chorus and solos, a reworked and shorted version of Leonard Bernstein and Stephen Sondheim’s “West Side Story.” On this opening night, Rory Hohenstein, leading the Jets as Riff, belted out “Cool” while strutting about the stage. His singing was adequate, but he shouldn’t quit his day job. Shannon Roberts, a dark-haired, blue-eyed corps member, shone as the fiery Anita, and along with Nicole Grand as Rosalia, they sang and shimmied their hearts out in “America.” Roberts’ portrayal is a break out performance. Here’s hoping to more golden opportunities for her in the future.
