Maxing out a Mini Vacation (Epilogue)

It's been brutal trying to get back into the swing of things after such a paradisaical weekend with Chelsey. While I did go to class every day and pay rapt attention in class, I scrimped on after school studying. Since this was just the first week of class, I imagine I'll survive, but Monday marked the start of studiousness over slacking. Nonetheless, I thought some of the non-academic pursuits last week were worthy of mention:Not only did Chelsey leave, but my roommate Arielle is in the process of vacating the premises. Wentworth (above) and I are dreading her departure as she has become more than just a good tenant and roommate; she's a friend, confidante, expert cat-exerciser, and talented vegan cook. The search for a new roommate is well underway and hopefully be resolved in the next week or two.As for the week's activities, celebrating Cinco de Mayo was on tap for Tuesday evening along with poolside BBQ. Speaking of things on tap, Wednesday's dollar pint night and Two Rows enabled almost too much festivity for a school night. It was fun to catch up with classmates Ian, Nikki (above), Joseph, and Julie. Thursday was quite an eventful day. After class and a bit of studying, I headed downtown to catch the movie State of Play at the Angelika. Featuring a star-studded cast, the movie was interesting but suffered from a final, hasty plot twist.After the film I journeyed across the street to see my final opera of the season, Brief Encounter by Andre Previn. In its debut run (world premiere), the new opera promised to please and succeeded. To start things off, I made my way up countless stairs to my seat in the high balcony only to be presented with a center orchestra seat by the usher. Though I'm sure low attendance facilitated my relocation, my exodus from the nosebleeds was an unexpected and welcome surprise. Once in my row J, dead-center seat, I realized that my view provided both an up-close-and-personal glimpse at the set and lead Nathan Gunn. That's one hot baritone! Though leading lady Elizabeth Futral gave a tour de force performance (on stage 95% of the time), her ever-faithful husband played by Kim Josephson gave the most memorable performance in my humble opinion. His sweet, simple songs about his unwavering love for his cheating wife (who "gets more beautiful everyday") were soft and sad. Interestingly, Previn was present in person and watching his adaptation of the highly-rated film from 1945 (8.3 stars on IMDB; ranking #167 on the top 250 movies of all time).
On Friday evening I had dinner at Sambuca for the first time. After a great evening of scintillating conversation, good wine, and live jazz, I made it over to the Angelika again for another independent movie. Friday night's selection: Is Anybody There? The sentimental, bittersweet story captures the friendship of a young boy fascinated with death and an old, former magician coping with his aging mind and nearing death. When I made it back to my car after the show, I was in quite a pickle (above). Patrol cars had taken over the block, trapping me in my spot until police officers were radioed to move their vehicles. Bizarre.Silly me, I thought I would kick my productivity into gear over the weekend. I 'studied' by the pool with Sarah on Saturday afternoon. Thankfully, taking a dip in the pool offered some much-needed relief from the rapidly rising temperatures in Houston. Risa and I got together in the evening for dinner and a summer trip planning session. We are torn between two itineraries that will either take us to (1) Greece and southern Italy or (2) Austria, Munich, and Switzerland. I've checked out all the relevant books from the Houston Public Library that have anything to do with the aforementioned destinations, so a well-informed decision will be coming soon!After church on Sunday, Arielle and I went shopping at Walgreens and saw the failblog-worthy display (above x 2). See the fail? I really did get some studying done on Sunday and even had time to make scrumptious banana muffins from some browning bananas (above). Yum! A parting thought... Arielle saw the following quote at FMyLife.com and thought of me. Should I be worried?
Today, I was at a family get together with distant relatives. My grandma made a point to say how all of the grandkids brought their boyfriends or girlfriends. She looks at me, then turns to everyone and says "But not our Becky! She is more interested in her cats right now than finding a man." FML