geeking out

Hey all! It's almost showtime. The final dress rehearsal for Semele is tomorrow night and the first performance is on Saturday. From what Brenda tells me, it's going to be a great show. In case you're in the area and would like to see it, you can get your tickets here. If you can't make it in person, it looks like there will be a live radio broadcast on February 28th, which you can listen to here. 

Brenda and her fellow Semelites had the day off on Saturday, so a few of us decided to check out one of Seattle's museums. The one we picked suited us perfectly, because, well, it's basically a museum for nerds. Officially, the EMP is a museum for popular culture, but most of the exhibits we saw definitely had a nerdy flair to them. For example, we saw exhibitions on fantasy (with props and costumes from Game of Thrones and The Lord of the Rings), horror films, indie games, and the band Nirvana (keeping it local). There was also a special exhibit that opened just a couple of weeks ago featuring costumes from the six Star Wars movies. 

 C-3PO and R2D2

 Various costumes from the first three movies.

Brenda got on Darth Vader's bad side.

The EMP Museum is right next to the Space Needle.

Brenda and I are looking forward to our families coming to Seattle this week and next. I'm hoping that the beautiful weather we've been having lately will continue. Our families could probably use a break from the freezing temps in the midwest.

I should get back to reading tax guides. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

Birthday Broy

Greetings once again from Seattle! Things have been moving along as usual, which means that Brenda has been very busy with rehearsals for Semele. She's also been busy outside of rehearsals because the music has been following her home. When singers perform operas by George Frideric Handel, the composer of Semele, they often write their own musical embellishments to add to their arias. Brenda has been working on her embellishments lately, which is no small task considering she has nine arias. I love hearing Brenda sing, so it's been nice that she's been doing a little work at home.

On Sunday, Brenda took her mind off of music (at least for a few hours) to celebrate her birthday. To commemorate the occasion we met up with several of her castmates at a nearby bowling alley. It had been a long time since Brenda and I had gone bowling, which made it even more fun. We didn't break any personal records, but apparently we got a good workout because we both woke up a little sore the next day. Bowling counts as aerobic exercise, right?

 The sassy birthday girl.

 Brenda and Daniela

 Mary, Amanda, Brenda and Deb

Alek, me, Brenda and Daniela

While Brenda's been busy rehearsing, I've been working on our taxes. It's been fun to put all our information into an Excel spreadsheet and to read various IRS tax guides on which forms to fill out and how to do so. I don't know when I became such a boring person, but I'm really embracing it.

IRS Form 1116 is calling out to me, so I'd better get going. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

earworm

Hey All! Greetings from post-super bowl Seattle. I don't know if it's a coincidence or not, but it has been much grayer and rainier this week than it was last week. I didn't watch the game this year because, well, I'm not much of a sports fan, but I did check the New York Times website periodically to find out the score. (Can you imagine a more exciting way to "watch" a football game?) Brenda and I also watched most of Katy Perry's halftime performance after the fact, which, much to Brenda's chagrin, caused me to repeatedly sing the chorus to "Firework" for the rest of the evening. I'm not sure she'll let me watch the halftime show next year.

As you might imagine, Brenda has been very busy with rehearsals. She rehearses Monday through Saturday during the day, which is a change from her typical morning/evening schedule in Frankfurt. It's been nice having evenings together so we can make dinner or meet up with friends. We haven't had a chance yet to do much exploring, but we'll have more time for that once her performances begin.

Any Grammy fans out there? I'm not sure I mentioned this before, but a recording that Brenda is on, Milhaud's L'Orestie d'Eschyle, was nominated for a Grammy this year in the Best Opera Recording category. We'll find out if the recording wins on Sunday.

I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

On clear evenings we enjoy watching the sun set behind a few of Seattle's skyscrapers.

in Seattle

Greetings from Seattle! Since we arrived on Sunday, Brenda and I have been settling into our new home for the next several weeks. We're really happy with the apartment and the surrounding neighborhood, and an unexpected bonus is that Brenda can walk to rehearsal. Which is actually a little unfortunate because that means we probably won't drive our rental car as often. The rental car company didn't have any cars available from the category we requested so they upgraded us to an Audi A3. I guess I'll have to find some other excuse to take the car out for a spin.

Brenda and I had a great time with her parents and twin last week. Due to fog in Amsterdam, our trip to the cabin we rented took longer than expected, but we made it all the same. The cabin is located directly on Lake Superior, near Lutsen, Minnesota, and has fantastic views of the lake. We spent most of our time relaxing in doors, although we did squeeze in a couple of hikes and Drew went snowboarding (show off). Also, thanks to Jim and Joanne's hard work, we ate a lot of delicious, home-cooked food.

 The cabin on one of the sunny days.

 Lutsen treated us to a beautiful sunset on our last night.

 While Drew treated us to some tunes in front of the fireplace.

 Since it was a wood-burning fireplace, we had to keep the fuel coming. Chopping wood was also a good way to burn off some of those delicious calories.

 Speaking of calories...

After we left Lutsen, we went to Minneapolis for a couple of days before flying to Seattle. During our brief stay in the Twin Cities we were able to see our friends, Dan and Whitney. And their adorable cats.

I had to share this picture because there is clearly a shortage of adorable cat pictures and videos on the internet.

Brenda insisted on including a photo of me, so here I am with said adorable cat on my lap. 

So now we're in Seattle, and Brenda just got home from her first day of rehearsal. By the sounds of it, she had a great first day. But she's starving so we'd better get dinner going. I hope you all have a great week, and we'll talk to you next Tuesday!

The view from our apartment in Seattle. Remarkably, the first day was sunny. It's been cloudy and rainy today, though, so all is right with the world.

homeward bound

Hey all! Our bags are packed (mostly), so it seems that we're ready for our flight to the U.S. tomorrow. We're looking forward to being back in the U.S. for several weeks and to spending several days with Brenda's parents and twin. Unfortunately, Brenda might not be able to take part in some of the outdoor winter activities that we were considering because her knee had an unfortunate run-in with an escalator. I'm sure, however, that we'll have a great time even if we have to spend more of our time in doors. 

As I mentioned last week, the cabin we're staying in this week does not have internet access so I won't be able to post another blog entry until we're back on the grid. Until then, here are a few pictures from our trip to Sweden and England to tide you over.

 I enjoyed trying to read Swedish even though I couldn't understand anything.

 Florian was kind enough to take us for a tour around Malmö. The bridge in the background is the Øresund Bridge, which connects Denmark and Sweden.

 Malmö has a very cool twisting skyscraper.

 There are also some really beautiful and unique homes built close to the water.

 After we left Sweden, we made our way to this pub in London that has several hotel rooms up stairs.

 In addition to seeing the hilarious musical, The Book of Mormon, we went to the British Museum.

Which happens to have the Rosetta Stone. How cool is that?

Brenda had her last La Sonnambula of the season last night, and it was great. When it came time for Brenda to bow, the whole audience stood up immediately to applaud her. I've never seen that happen in Frankfurt before.

Well, it's bed time. I hope you all have a wonderful week, and we'll talk to you in a little over a week!

country hopping

Hey All! Greetings from Sweden! Brenda and I are currently in the windy city of Malmö visiting some friends, and having a great time. We'll be flying to London tomorrow to see, among other things, the musical The Book of Mormon. I flew to London last year around this time, too, but that was to study law, not to take in a show. I expect this trip to London to be a little more fun.

Brenda has her final La Sonnambula on Saturday and then we head to the U.S. for her upcoming gig in Seattle. We're going to make a stop along the way to spend some time with Brenda's family in a cabin in northern Minnesota. Brenda tells me there is no internet in the cabin so the blog will definitely be late next week. I'll try to post some pictures from our trip before then (I don't have the ability to do so now).

Until next time, have a great week!

a good reason to read the news

Happy New Year! 2015 sounds like a good year, doesn't it? We feel like we're off to good start, at least as far as our post-holiday diets are concerned. We went for a jog outside yesterday even though the temps were only in the upper 30s. In the past we've avoided winter running since, you know, it's cold, but our outdoor excursion yesterday was quite nice. We may even try it again one of these days.

Several weeks ago a journalist from the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (a major newspaper based in Frankfurt) asked Brenda for an interview. Brenda's current show, La Sonnambula, has been going very well, and I'm assuming that's what inspired the article. The interview took place at the opera house and a photographer took several pictures of Brenda underneath the stage, including the one that appeared in the paper.

Another opportunity for you to work on your German.

Brenda and I will be headed to the U.S. for her next gig in just a couple of weeks. There are several things we want to get done before then, but luckily most of the items on our to-do list are fun. For example, this evening we are going to the opera house to hear our friend Elza van den Heever sing a recital. She's an amazing singer (and person) so it will undoubtedly be a great performance.

Next Tuesday we'll be in Sweden visiting friends, which means that we may be a day or two late with the blog. On the plus side, we should have some interesting pictures to share. We hope you're all having a great start to 2015, and we'll talk to you next week!