Oh!

What I wouldn't give to have some velvety gelato right now. There are probably two places that I like best to idle away time -- grocery stores and gelaterias. The selection is dizzying! Gelato is like a cup of pure summer. To have the real stuff off the streets of Rome would be out of this world. Well, actually, I'd probably walk around Rome and snack on gelato all day long :) Since I have no trips planned, the next best thing is a nice little place called Caffe Gelato not far away from me. Will have to make a visit and report back.

Round and Round

we go, just like the Sugarbabes song. Except in this case, instead of popstars dancing with guys in a glamorous music video, it's me and my boys -- Drake, Grant, Nolte. -sigh- :/ What a wonderful world indeed. But life would be so much more fun with a soundtrack. What else should go on mine?

Lyrics (Round Round)

When I go round, baby round round

Spend the night on me

I don't need no man

Got my kicks for free(Free free free free)

When your still in my face

You're messing with my brain

If you're trying to resist me

Then you better think again

If you move to my music

The music's got to give

If I'm too complicated

That's the way

I want to live

Flowers

A mini-garden just for you :) If there's anything that makes me smile on even the coldest, snowiest, wintery day, it's gorgeous flowers in bloom. I share these with you, dear reader. They smell great too :)

You know?

It's a sad day when hitting well above the pass level and getting a damn high percentage is not good enough on an exam. I normally don't talk about school stuff here because medicine isn't as glamorous as Grey's Anatomy pretends, but it is a sad day worth noting :( Sadly. The next exam block will be a city block long and fast and furious.

These days, I am eating too much, dressing frumpily, and gorging myself in books or the internet. What a healthy existance. Don't try this at home, kids and older kids.

Alright, enough complaining! It has been a long time since I blogged, and fun did visit from time to time.

Last October, I went out with friends from my floor to Cafe Iberico -- que magnifico! I salute the Spaniards that came up with tapas and sangria :) Here is the group at the restaurant, next to a most delightful wall of china figurines and wares; next is the trio of roommates, dubbable as "shortest, shorter, and short" or "brown, tan, and yellow."

Aren't these flowers some beauties below? I had roses in my hair several months ago, reprising a style I did a few years ago. I've been thinking whether stargazer lilies are even better than red velvety roses and did my first time lapse series (w lilies). Although I didn't stand at the exact same spot each time, I did have the presence of mind to keep the light conditions similar. If the series looks a fraction as delicious as the lilies smelled, I'll be quite pleased.

Turandot Opening Night Gala Performance

Lyric's blurb for this one is "An exotic Chinese princess beckons all suitors: Answer three riddles and she is yours. Get them wrong and you die." Dramatic, no? Even more dramatic were the music by Puccini and set saturated with reds and purples. I've heard Nessun Dorma many times before, but after seeing production it makes a lot more sense. Calaf (Vladimir Galouzine)= Love :)


Act I



Vertigo, anyone?


I'm not at the senior home, honestly ... And time marches on :)


Smelling the roses at intermission


Finale (their capes make a heart)


lobby




good night

COD EMT-B MTRF

Future EMTs: Coming soon to a town near you.


Way to go with BSI!






Number crunching ... times a lot


Extrication Day


He lives!
















Osmosing

A night off at work

is the way to cap off a summer stint. My gig has been working from W to Sun. at Drury Lane (a dinner theatre) as a restaurant server. I've always wanted to try waitressing, and this was my big shot. And the experience hasn't been half bad. At all. I've met some wonderful people from around the world -- Albanians, Chileans, Columbians, Czechs, Romanians, Russians, and lots of Mexicans :) I really used the Spanish that I learned in the past few years. The funny thing is that the latinos would talk about me as I walked by, thinking that I had not a clue about what they were saying. I did, but stayed quiet about it until one day when I had to ask the Spanish-speaking dessert chef to leave off cherries, nuts, and put extra syrup on a piece of NY cheesecake. Then all the guys were like, what, you speak Spanish? And so I said, si, un poco. Haha, I had a ball watching them smile sheepishly at me like kids with their hands caught in the cookie jar.

So on my night off, I saw the finale of the show, Nunsensations, about a convent of nuns who go to Vegas to headline a song-and-dance show so that they can earn $10k for money to donate to an elementary school. The set and props were fabulous -- my favorite was the red pump chair, which you can see in the pictures I steathily took at curtain call :)

I also won something! The CLERGY, do not ticket, sign was my prize for spinning the Holy Roller, also photographed on set. The Holy Roller was a wheel with the five virtues -- hope, charity, faith, and will and grace. Will and Grace were pictured for the last two virtues :)

Also, the cute Albanian manager who had hired me in the first place bought me a drink. A perfect night.



light as a feather


ba and me


I want my future living room to look like THIS


The loot



Curtain call



The cocktail lounge


Overlooking the dining room (where I worked) bathed in darkness


Drury Lane: For those interested in visiting, go to<http://www.drurylaneoakbrook.com/>. The next show is a mystery comedy, Agatha Christie's "Ten Little Indians," playing from August 3 through September 24, 2006.

B+J's Birthday Party at Drury Lane

was on a day that I finished up my station early. O grabbed me and told me not to leave becuase we were having a surprise birthday party for two of the servers. It's nice knowing that people do sweet things like this after college. This put a big smile on my face :)


The birthday girls


My reggaeton buddy


Blowing out the candles


Opening presents


My favorite busman


My adopted Czech dad

Taste and Ribfest

Turkey legs, polish sausages, ribs, and curly fries. Yummmmmm. I must have ate like 10 lbs of food today. Ha, take that, healthy eating!


Backstage at FOX my50


Nexxt Level


Walking to Train Station from the Taste


Blink


Walking over the river


Onto Ribfest


Ribfest entrance


Mojo's



Mojo's chefs


Mojo's prizes


More ribs


Cream-a-lot