Sunday morning ramble

I heard my name as I approached the Opera House at the Kennedy Center last night. It was colleague, who was in the main hall, watching a concert on the Millenium Stage. He asked me what was going on in the Opera House-- I told him it was a concert sung by Olga and Ildar--two Russian opera singers--and conducted by Placido Domingo. He said he'd seen Thomas Pickering, as well as a number of ambassadors, go in. I admitted that I'd never have recognized Thomas Pickering if I'd seen him; my colleague shrugged, said he was a C-Span junkie.

***
The concert was amazing. It was just amazing. It makes me wish I'd bought a subscription, especially since it's a good lineup this season. Oh, well-- they'll simulcast at the Nationals' Stadium. I wish they'd simulcast at the Mall, like they did a few years ago.

The simulcasts are good because they're free, but actually I love the Kennedy Center. I love going outside during the intermission and looking at the water. I remember when, many years ago Alex and I went to opening night of Samson and Delila, and there was this fierce thunderstorm that had kind-of calmed, and the air was perfect, and you could still see lightning over the water, at a distance.

***
The Kennedy Center was awash in cute shoes. I recalled the shoe lesson we'd provided for Jayson at Tasha's party-- he'd asked what were pumps, and we had to explain that not all heels were pumps. Tasha, for example, was wearing open-toed pumps, which were not the same as peep-toed pumps. We debated the term "toe cleavage" (I, myself, love it; Afiya does not). Since one of the guests was wearing gladiator sandals, we had to explain those, too. This evening, I wore peep-toed slingbacks.


On a quasi-related note, Tasha told me that when she first moved in with Marcela and their two other roommates (I moved in a year later to replace one of them, who was completely insane, and proceeded to appear on America's Next Top Model), one of them said since she didn't really cook, she'd like to use the kitchen cabinets as a repository for her running shoes and other athletic gear. Tasha balked and the cabinets were saved.


***
I know I've gone on about this before--and it wasn't that bad this time--but I can't help but wonder about people who go to the Opera thinking that people are there to hear them. I wonder whether it's getting worse in light of the "meformer" Twitter culture, or whether they're just contemporaneous. Either way, it's annoying. STFU, people. I want to concentrate fully on the people with the beautiful voices. Also, you're going to be in close quarters--go easy on the fragrance.

***
I once again got to the metro just in time. It was glorious.