This week has been all about Carmen for me. I am reviewing Seattle Opera’s new productionelsewhere, but in preparation I’ve been listening to the music nonstop.
Carmen was the first opera I ever saw. In high school, my music teacher assigned the traveling production of Carmen (at the time my city didn’t have its own opera company) for extra credit. My only clear memory of the show was being startled awake by sound of a gunshot (which I now realize was the ending of Micaela’s aria when Don Jose catches Escamillo outside the bandits’ lair).
After this weekend, Carmen is one of my favorite operas, on par with Rigoletto. I have had Carmen’s “Habanera” stuck in my head since I heard since I heard it at Opera on Taptwo weeks ago. And I will have the rest of the opera stuck in my head for a long time to come.
Several years ago, my youngest daughter was invited to a birthday party at the ice skating rink. The hosts were kind enough to let my older daughter tag along. The youngest didn’t really take to it, but the oldest did.
I didn’t want my kids to commit to an activity that required me to drive to the suburbs regularly. But after a couple years she wore me down. Two summers ago, we started going to the rink on hot days. That fall, she signed up for group lessons. A year later she had graduated from the basic skills class and we hired a private coach for weekly lessons. This summer she will participate in her first figure skating competition.
I didn’t know when I snapped a cute picture of my girls skating at a birthday party that I was witnessing the birth of an ice monster.
I spent a big chunk of April traveling around Norway with my 10-year-old. Fortunately, I wrote enough in March to keep the publications rolling out even in my absence. No promises for May, though, so enjoy these stories now. Here is what I got published in April.
I published 16 posts in April, which is about average for this site, but traffic dropped worryingly and the bounce rate remained distressingly high. I discovered that the “Read More” button disappeared from my posts when the WordPress editor updated to Gutenberg (Curse you Aquascum 3000!). That might or might not explain things, but it’s still a problem, so, as you may have noticed, I switched to a newer theme that works better with the current editor. I got my “Read More” button back but now links embedded in text don’t really look like links, so … there’s still work to do.
If you have opinions on the new look, let me know. I’m still not sure if I’m sticking with this one and trying to tweak it, or if I’m going to keep looking for the perfect theme.
Most Popular Posts
Calling Forth the Militia: This post’s continued popularity confuses me. In April it got 10% of my traffic. Does it mean I should pick up my Constitutional studies again? Or does it just mean I’m really good at clickbaiting the alt-right?
Commander in Chief Clause: Well, the president is always newsworthy, right? And the current one does raise a lot of Constitutional questions. That’s what got me started on this project in the first place.
PNB Director’s Choice: I usually write a post about each piece in a mixed rep, but this month I only had time to review the overall program. I’m glad people read it anyway.
Music I Liked – Midcentury Modern and Industrial Violin: Huh. I thought that was a pretty narrow focus. But maybe people just like having a theme rather than a random list of unfamiliar band names. I wonder if it would work as well when the theme is less intriguing than “industrial violin.”
Little Mortal Jump at PNB: It continues to get traffic a year after I posted it, even when I haven’t linked back to it. I think Alejandro Cerrudo’s piece is just one of those dances that people want to know more about.
This week all the music I liked was metal. Well, more or less. I liked The Greatest Bits, Metallica, Hath, Pound, Árstíðir lífsins, and Illimitable Dolor. And Gloson.
Since I’m not the person who cooks in my house, I don’t pay a lot of attention to food brands. For the most part, the food where quality matters most – produce, fish – isn’t branded anyway.
I do love an Asian grocery store, though. Asian snacks are the best snacks, and I love to stock up on senbei, agar jellies, and plum candy. While I’m there, I always try to pick up a few of the staples my husband needs for cooking Asian foods. After bringing home the wrong miso one too many times, I finally took a picture of the right stuff. With the photo stored on my phone, I’m sure to buy my brand every time.
I’m a freelance content and grant writer sharing my work and my thoughts about books, music, and travel on this blog. If you want to know how I can help you share the things you care about, read more about me.
