La Dame aux Camelias

This fall I went to see Verdi's "La Traviata" at the Met with Renee Fleming. While reading about the opera in the program I found out that it is based on Alexandre Dumas son's book "La Dame aux Camelias".

Afterward, I read the novel and the facts about the real courtesan that the story was based on. The book also mentioned the multiple movie and stage versions. I rented one of them: 1937th "Camille" with Greta Garbo. The DVD also had a a silent 1921 "Camille" starring Alla Nazimova.

Here is the comparison:

Met's version - beautiful music, sets and costumes and very talented Renee Flemming. Enjoyable.



Greta Garbo version - tough, sarcastic heroine. Garbo seemed too old for the role.



Nazimova version - fun to watch just for the crazy hair and mimicry. The sets are also hilarious and must have been out there for 1921.



"La Dame aux Camelias" novel version - although not a literary masterpiece, it was very interesting to read about life in 1850's Paris and how things were back then.

The real Marie Duplessis - "most celebrated courtesan of the times". Possibly was being offered to men by her farther by age 12. Dead by age 23. Apparently very beautiful and elegant, she "possessed a natural tact, and an instinctive refinement which no education could have enhanced."



I actually found her life story much more interesting than "La Dame aux Camelias". I wish there was a fictionalized version of it. Apparently there is a movie loosely based on her life: Dame aux camélias / Lady of the Camelias.

Rhynochocyon Udzungwensis

Soup Part Two

My "Martha Stewart" style soup saga continued today - I was not sure what to do with all the soup and vegetable broth leftovers. I thought I might need to buy plastic containers and was concerned how they were going to fit in our small freezer. Google to the rescue - apparently, you can put soup in Ziploc freezer bags. It came out so neat - you pour the liquid in bags, squeeze air out, seal and put bags flat in the freezer, separated with paper towels. After the content freezes, you can stack the bags any way you like. I now have 5 two cup portion squares of soup and 4 one cup portion squares of broth. Of course, I will reuse the bags later. I am so glad I did not have to buy tupperware type containers as we are trying to minimize our clutter.

I did OK with top priority tasks today - it wasn't like I took a nap or rested or surfed the web. I was doing stuff all day, but still did not get to some things that I wish to complete this weekend. But I did mail the package to my Mom. I get such a nice feeling imagining and hoping that she will like the things I sent her. I got her these boots:



My last trip to Russia I was hoping to get to experience the real winter. But all I got was grey sky and dirt. My suede boots got kind of ruined and I was looking for rubber boots everywhere, but the trend has not reached Russia at that point. My relatives thought I was crazy wanting rubber boots - that is something you would wear on the farm maybe. So, I am sending my Mom these cool looking and comfy boots so she can wear them when you have to walk through dirt everywhere.

I am also sending her jeans as it is hard to find classic looking good quality dark blue wash jeans there. I've been buying her Uniqlo jeans but now that I am boycotting Japan's whale and dolphin hunt, I got her a pair from Express.

Lab / Hound Mix Needs Home

"We know looks aren't everything, but if you want an attractive dog, Princess is for you. She's got handsome rich brown spots and a spray of freckles all over her white coat.

Princess has inner beauty as well. She's extremely sweet and gentle and loves to play, with people and dogs alike.

Princess looks to be a Lab/Hound mix. She was brought to the shelter because the child in her former home was allergic to her.

To find out more about Princess (I.D. # A746149) contact the NYC Animal Care & Control at 212-788-4000. She may be gone by the time you call!"

Soup!

I've been trying to follow the tips from the time management lecture I mentioned earlier. I prioritized my to do list this morning and am very happy that I did the top three things on it. Top two were "Due Soon, Important" - prepare package for my Mom to be mailed out tomorrow and prepare an English language "homework" for her. (I suggested that I can help her study English because we are hoping that she will come here one day, so I will be sending "homework" for her to translate, read and answer questions on.) These were "important" because I promised to send some of the stuff in the package awhile ago and I promised to send the lesson also, so my Mom has been expecting it.

"Not due soon, not important" fun task for the day was making my first soup ever. I followed this guide for vegetable broth recipe and I used the "17 Bean & Barley Mix" from Trader's Joe that inspired me to do this in the first place. The beans were so beautiful - they made me happy just to look at them. Here they are after the soak - a bit wrinkly and not as pretty anymore.



So it took and hour to make the broth and an hour for the soup - it has been an ambitious project. I will have the first bowl of my own first ever soup tomorrow!

I discovered Zen Habits blog yesterday. Just as I was procrastinating online, the post on overcoming resistance helped me to snap out of it and "The Minimalist’s Guide to Fighting (and Beating) Clutter Entropy" post gave me enough inspirations to do some things around the house that I've been delaying for some time.

Favorite Holiday Lights

Lectures by Randy Pausch

This article made me interested in this lecture and learning more about Randy Pausch. I also watched his lecture on Time Management that was really wonderful and helpful for me. I will do my best to follow his advice.