birthday treats

we gathered today to celebrate this man



on top of a mountain with these people:


sensible sheyam waited for us at the bottom of the hill, with a good sci-fi novel and a place in the sun. with us in spirit..

some of us hugged trees:


others pumped the air with a leash-clutching fist:



i took a breather:



we were all experienced hikers, naturally. blithely ignoring stop signs:



romolo was bashful in front of all this attention. what, all this pour moi?


disclaimer: i took none of the above pictures

2012

giggling all the way

merciless

heart-renching unrelenting bleak brilliant. left a pit in my stomach.

just want i seek out from an afternoon at the pictures. contender for film of the year.

Madama Butterfly

Went with S and D to see the superlative relaunch of Minghella's seminal 2006 take on a timeless classic and a FKJ fixture. Placido Domingo conducting. We could not have been further back and while it would have been great to see the amazing production design up-close-and-personal the whole experience was pretty breathtaking regardless. Boasting an awful cold, i reined in my sniffles as best I could.
It's bloody hard though. and I failed, honking snot as the orchestra thundered to a close.



ah yes, revisiting it all.

O a me, sceso dal trono
dell'alto Paradiso,
guarda ben fiso, fiso di tua madre la faccia
che ten resti una traccia, guarda ben!
Amore, addio! addio! piccolo amor!
(con voce fioca)
Va, gioca, gioca!

yup. lost it again.

amazing santana

I would have dropped Glee about two seasons ago if it hadn't been for
my favourite cheerio. Here she is KILLING it in 'Someone like you' in
an Adele mash-up.

I swear, I wept.

Now go punch Finn's lights out.

drawn to the cult leader

camping ain't so bad

a couple of ticks and a cold night's sleep but i was with my two favourite girls in the throes of an indian summer in connecticut