Let's see now. I spent the week frantically working to cram in all my final lessons with students before the Saturday test date. It was madness! Then came Thursday, when the company I work for took all of us tutors to Pac Bell Park (Pacbell? Pac-Bell? No idea.) for a Giants game and a pre-game tailgating party.

I had one extra ticket, so I decided to invite Joey. She's a sports fan for one thing, and also I knew she would make a good wingman in the event that we ran across any hot, smart, tutor-type guys. She doesn't get turned on by good grammar the way that I do. I would be in no danger of being cockblocked from the semicolon-wielding man of my dreams.

The tailgating party was fun! Lots of great food and a million of my co-workers, none of whom I had ever met before. Isn't that odd? I haven't seen my boss since I first got hired, although I talk to him all the time. He looked nothing like I remembered and I wouldn't have known him if I passed him on the street, but I totally recognized his voice!

I did my usual thing and randomly introduced myself to everyone, asked them bizarre questions about themselves, and volunteered odd tidbits about my own personal philosophy. (People love when I do that! Except for the ones who think I'm insane.) I met a lot of outgoing, friendly, fun people. They would be fun to work with, I'm sure, if I ever worked with them! One guy (hot, smart, tutor-type) shared his beer with us, and we had hoagies and chips and I don't know what-all. Then we headed to the nosebleed bleachers with our tickets.

Okay, so it was really cold. I kept making Joey get up and go get food with me, in order to stave off the blistering wind. We went and got the famous garlic fries (with real chunks of garlic atop them, yum) and then fifteen minutes later I made her get back up so we could go get coffee. And Krispy Kremes. How I managed to lose weight this week, I'll never know.

I don't know if it was the game itself (which wasn't very exciting and the Giants lost) or how far away we were (the ballpark is gorgeous, but Barry Bonds was little more than a speck in the distance) or the incipient frostbite (brr) but I wasn't tremendously into the game itself. I remember going to see the A's play the Red Sox and the game was so much fun to watch. Not this one, so much. If I had it to do all over again, I would have snuck down into the good seats-- maybe I could have cozied up to Ed Burns, who was sitting behind home plate.

But then again, I would have missed out on all the good comradeship up in the bleachers! I am sure Joey loved listening to all of us babbling incessantly about our tutor war stories, but when you normally work all by yourself, you start to feel as if you're the only person in the world who's ever taught anyone how to take an SAT. Weird to be reminded that you're not. Weird, but good.

Then yesterday I went to the opera! My First Opera. La Wade wrote about it over here and posted the companion to the below picture. Thanks to her awesomeness, we got student rush tickets for a paltry $15 each, and we sat in the 13th row of the orchestra section! All the way over to the right, but still. The seats were great! And we could read the titles (they project the words onto the wall so you can understand what's being said) and see the stage perfectly, and it was fabulous.

I loved getting dressed up (diamonds and a ball gown skirt and little heels that I seriously should never try to walk in again) and walking among all the other dressed-up people, and the gorgeous sets and costumes, and the incredible voice of the incredibly-conceited-but-hot tenor. I thought the lead woman wasn't so great (I couldn't hear her so well because she didn't project and her voice had that phlegmy quality that I hate-- that Sarah Brightman thing.) but everyone else was good.

The music itself, I didn't love, but I didn't loathe it either. (It was a comedic, Cinderella-story type of opera.) I can see myself liking some operas better than others, and for me, this one was more about the experience, the story, the acting, and other things, rather than the music itself. From what I hear, it just isn't Rossini's best work. (But what the hell do I know? It was My First Opera!)

One of my friends, who used to be an opera usher, told me I shouldn't give up on opera if I didn't like it, because they tend to be hit-or-miss. I just wanted to find out if I was pro- or anti-opera in general. I have learned that I do enjoy and have an open mind to opera; it was a great experience. I want to keep trying until I find something that really blows me away, makes me weep, gives me chills. Like a couple of notes that Mr. Tenor guy hit. Gave me a foretaste of what a really great production might make me feel.

Those two things were the highlights of my week. My First Giants Game and My First Opera. Also noteworthy: blasting the music after we closed tonight and singing "Fever" as we tidied up the store. Then rewinding it and singing it again, because we felt like it, damnit.

Also the good news from the weight-loss front, as I have hit the 30 pound mark! I know if you really cared, you'd be checking in here and you'd already know about it. But I'm still excited. And also making new friends! Yes, those kinds of friends. You know who you are.

The low point of my week was that I did not get the fellowship I had applied for. I'm not too broken up about it, since it was a long shot anyway, but now my future plans are really up in the air. I am sure I will write a lovely introspective entry about it soon enough. Or maybe I'll just move to China!

Whatever the case, there are too many adventures going on just now for me to worry overly about he state of my life. Tons of people are coming to town this month, and then Tim is coming down next month. I have plans to do karaoke, visit a strip club, see a friend DJ his little communist heart out, attend a smashing birthday bash, go to Reno, and who-knows-what-else. It's summertime! And the living's easy.