University of Illinois Vet Med Open House

Took the grandkids over to Champaign to visit the U of I's School of Veterinary Medicine Open House last Saturday. It's always a good time, and since my son is an alumni I went by his class picture hanging on the wall and said hey.



The grandkids enjoyed themselves by participating in various events:






A good time was had by all.

Nathan Gunn in May 2009 Vanity Fair...oh and some other opera stars, too

In the May 2009 Vanity Fair, there is an article on opera singers plying their trade in the Met's HD program. The picture above is from that article.

Notice our hero lying down. He needs me to lie down with him, I can tell. Sigh. He is one good looking boy, is he not?

Here is the article link: High C in High-Def

Enjoy!

Saturday Fun

My mother wanted to go shopping yesterday in a nearby town that houses an outlet mall. This is a big deal, you see, 'cause we don't have nothing like that near our hick little ole town. The extra special draw that gets people to go 45 miles to shop is the Coach outlet store.


If you love purses - and I KNOW you do - this is the place for you. I was there about a month ago and bought myself two new purses. I'm not embarrassed to say that I spent about $200.00 on them...but they retailed for about $600.00. (Income tax money, don't you know, and I deserved them for last year. Yeah, I'm still using that excuse and plan to use it all through 2009, so stay tuned.)

Anywho, Mom saw said purses and wanted one for herself. Her condition - any purse she would buy had to have a shoulder strap. I don't do the shoulder strap - I usually wear a small backpack for trips (this is the last one I bought):


...but it really isn't a good size to hold my Kindle, so I bought two tote-type bags although they are "tote" in style only. Not huge, just big enough to hold the Kindle and wallet without feeling stuffed. Here's an example (I couldn't find my exact purse but this is the same size/style):


So the hunt for a suitable bag that had a shoulder strap was on. We had all the sales associates helping and eventually we settled on one that looks like this (couldn't find a pic of the exact one she bought, but this is close):


Just imagine a shoulder strap instead of the smaller strap. She ended up being extremely happy with her purchase, and I was glad to take her there...she bought me a Coach umbrella as a thank you. Wasn't that nice?


I plan to NOT turn it inside out like I did the previous cheapo umbrella...I HOPE. This one is a bit too expensive to replace, so I'm gonna have to be extra careful.

Then we hit the Carter's kids clothing store.



After perusing the racks, we ended up buying waaaay too much for the granddaughter/great-granddaughter. Here's an example of one of the outfits we bought:


Again, it's not exactly the right shirt, but it's really hard to show you the right one since it seems that outlet outfits just aren't photographed and posted on the web anywhere for me to steal and post here. ;p

After spending too much, we headed up to Champaign to shop at Birkenstock Concepts. Mom wanted to see new styles. We both are Birkie people due to feet problems. I mostly wear Birkenstock Footprints and she is straight Birks. We saw a few new interesting styles, but nothing that made us go wow...until we looked at their Finn Comfort shoes. They are built the same as Birkenstocks as far as the cork footbed and the fact that the footbed can be replaced. She loved them and bought this pair in two colors:



After spending more money there, Mom and I headed over to pick up the grandkiddies from their father. He lives/works in Champaign, so it worked out for me to pick them up this weekend since I'd planned to be there anyway. Once we had them in the car, we decided to go eat. First choice was the Original Pancake House on Springfield Ave. I let Mom and kids out so I could park since it had started to rain and Mom is not really a great walker anymore. I get inside to join them only to find out they have a 45 minute wait. What? On a Saturday at 1:00 p.m.? Sheesh - a popular place, I guess.

I would have waited any other time, but a 3 and 6 year old are NOT great waiters. I knew they'd already be tired and cranky from being at their Dad's house - he lets them stay up late and so forth, so I wasn't going to risk that kind of wait.

Instead we went down the street to Famous Dave's Barbeque. We actually had an enjoyable time. The kids were really well-behaved (not that they aren't normally, but we have had tantrums and other issues in the past) and the food was great.

After eating we headed back home to Decatur and I let the kids watch Betsy's Kindergarten Adventures in the DVD player - they love that show and were good as gold all the way home. That is definitely noteworthy. No fights, no arguments between them - I was definitely happy with how the day went.

I'm spending more time with my mother than I ever have, for good or ill. The reason is mostly that her health is deteriorating. It's a slow progression but it's age, her weight and other issues. So of course I'm worried about her, but I also want to spend time with her while I can. I don't think I did that as well as I could have with my father (he died in 1980) and I have always regretted that.

Anyway, another weekend down. Next weekend it's Quacker Duck breakfast at the Children's Museum, then the Vet Med Open House at the University of Illinois for the kids. I can't wait to go in the school again as my son's class picture will be up on the corridor wall. I haven't seen it yet - they don't put it up till after the class leaves, and the last time I was there I forgot to look for it! I'll take a picture of the picture and post it once I have it.

Week after next I have a business trip and I am really looking forward to it. Lots of "me" time with other adults, drinking, gambling boat visit, should be fun.

Let the good times roll.

Catching Up

Been busy for a week or so with work (all last week was horrific for a variety of reasons) and life, so haven't posted much if at all. Here's the scoop...

Accompanied the grandson/granddaughter to the grandson's baseball clinic last Sunday at the DISC (Decatur Indoor Sports Center). He did really well...threw hard, paid attention - made me proud. I know I'm prejudiced, but I think he's pretty good.





After the clinic, we hit the park for some duck feeding:




...and some playground fun:



It was a very nice day all in all.

Later in the week, the granddaughter forced her uncles to play house and fed them a lovely dinner:


Nothing like vegetables and toast. Very healthly.

Live from the Met in HD - La Sonnambula

Pre-show Image of Natalie Dessay

Producer Mary Zimmerman

More Pre-show Natalie Dessay

What to say about this production...hmm. To say it was a disappointment would be wrong. The singing was excellent, especially Juan Diego Florez. The staging, however, was abysmal.

The smartest thing done yesterday, however, was not to chance Mary Zimmerman taking a bow. I understand from other opera sites that she was roundly boo-ed (is that even a word?) on opening night and I'm thinking that they didn't want to take a chance of that happening here - there are encores to show yet and it would sort of make it difficult to see the producer/director getting booed. But she deserved it.

I have never seen a more incomprehensible version of a story. It wanted to be a play within a play, but if you did not know the story going in (Swiss village, sleepwalker ending up in the wrong bed), you would have never understood what was going on.

That said, the singing was wonderful. JDF was his usual excellent, Natalie Dessay was good if not superlative. One gripe about JDF - he jerks me from the story every single time he does his singing shrug, reaching for the notes. Can't stand that and now I'm poised, waiting for it to happen. Very annoying. I should have counted how many times he did that in the performance just to see if he can break a record or something. Next time - it's good to have a goal.

Fun moments - Jennifer Black as the suffering Lisa...she was a delight. Her acting was superb, her singing excellent. Her moment at the chaotic end of the first act was sublime - I laughed out loud at her antics.

JDF and Natalie Dessay singing on the spinning bed while standing - JDF caught himself as he began to topple over.

Michele Pertusi as the Count - excellent voice and acting. I could have been seduced by him myself.

I had an enjoyable time overall - the music was good and I can forgive the staging for that alone. Would I buy it if that particular performance was released on DVD? No.

The Cast Takes a Bow

Michele Pertusi curtain call

Juan Diego Florez curtain call

Natalie Dessay curtain call

Friday Eye Candy

Just for all you out there that need a little more reason to celebrate Friday!

Illini in the First (and Last) Round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament

That's the photo my vet son took before the game started...unfortunately the Illini lost. But at least my son got to be there to "cheer them on".

Natasha Richardson - What a Shame

I didn't know Natasha Richardson, nevertheless I feel incredible sadness over her death. That something so inconsequential as a fall can do such serious damage is hard to grasp. I myself have fallen and hit my head a number of times - and recently - with no lasting ill effects.

When I was a child, a neighbor boy fell off his bike and hit his head on the curb of the street. He was fine, we (and he) thought. He went home later in the day, complaining of a headache but had no other symptoms, so no one was overly concerned. Next morning he was found dead in his bed. It sounds like this is the same cause of death as for Richardson - the "talk and die" syndrome.

I think about her young sons and her husband and hope that they will get through this devastating time okay. Although is anyone ever really okay when a close relative dies? I still remember my father's death with sadness and I was a grown woman when that occurred.

Here's hoping that the people and the press give them all the time they need to come to terms with their loss.

Illini in the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament

The first round of the NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament starts on Thursday for the Fighting Illini of the University of Illinois. The game will be played in Portland.

Well, guess who's going, bitches? My son, the vet, who lives just outside Portland. He called last night to say he got the golden tickets - golden because the event is SOLD OUT.

Here's the proof:


I'm so excited for him! Here's hoping they play well.

Cancer Yoga Study Part 2

Okay, well, I met with the person in charge of this study yesterday. She couldn't meet me off-site, so I went in for my quarterly bloodwork and met with her at the same time. I just hate that place, as I've mentioned before. Anyway, she was very nice, explained the study thoroughly. I went ahead and signed up due to her winning sales pitch...and when I got home I realized that I forgot the most important question of all - where is this going to take place?

If it ends up that it is going to be done in that building...well, I just don't know.

She is supposed to call at the end of the week to give the actual dates it will start, so hopefully I will remember that question. We'll see.

Cancer Yoga Study

Today is like a catch up day, I guess. I've already posted all the Nathan Gunn news that is fit to print, as they say, so I'll talk about me.

I got a call a few weeks ago from the Cancer Care Specialists wanting me to participate in yet another study. They are attempting to prove/disprove the theory that Hantha Yoga aids in helping post cancer patients sleep. I will admit to sleep problems, mainly waking up on an average of six times a night. I don't know if it is anxiety or what, but it has been happening since cancer became a part of my life.

The study requires that you wear a bracelet that tracks something for a week. Then one group will take four weeks of yoga, two times a week. The other group will do nothing for the same time period. At the end, they will measure something (I'm not clear on the details yet) that will prove/disprove their theory. The participants that did not get to do the yoga will then be offered the same class for four weeks. So either way you get four weeks of yoga. Not a bad deal as it's free.

Initially I said I would be interested. They had an evening meeting for all interested parties last week and I got ready, went out the door, drove to the center...and could not make myself go in.

I actually became ill at just the thought of going into the building. Yes, I know this is all mental. But that building is where they hurt me. Where they blithely administered chemotherapy and devastated my body/health. Where they told me, don't worry, your hair will grow back...everyone goes through this...platitude after platitude.

I don't consider myself weak. In fact, I know that I'm not. But this building and all it portrays took me under in that moment.

I went back home and resigned myself to not participating. On Friday, though, the woman in charge of the study called me and we are meeting in her office, off the Cancer Campus, on Monday morning. So I might be in the study or I might not. I think a lot is going to depend on where it is held.

I'll keep you posted.

Chicago Opera Theater Fundraiser

A week ago Saturday, the Chicago Opera Theater held a fundraiser at the Spertus Theater. They also commemorated the 10 year reign of Brian Dickie as General Director.

What you might not have known is that Nathan and Julie Gunn attended and even drew out winners for the raffle. Here's the picture that Brian Dickie posted on his own "award winning" blog COT Brian Dickie:

Nathan and Julie Gunn Draw Raffle Tickets

As Mr. Dickie says on his blog, it's a shame that Nathan has never sung for them, but it's definitely cool that Julie will be working with some of their artists.

They both look great in this picture. I hope they had a good time.