Alas! My poor, neglected Blog! <<Sigh>>. I have been so busy, working and working and working and (what else? Oh yeah), spending time with my siblings and nephew and niece. Fear not, dear blog, for I have returned, with news and information.
I recently took a 6 day trip to Seattle, "The Emerald City". It was quite lovely. I arrived on a Friday and had dinner at Buca di Beppo, a lovely Italian restaurant with a fabulous chocolate cake. Later, I got to see the Space Needle, and went down to Pike Place Market, a lovely Waterfront open-air market with tons of shops and restaurants, where I had some lovely ice cream (Oh yes, the South Beach Diet did not make it to Seattle. However, I am going to resume it this week). Also, shopping at the Westlake Center and the Pacific Center, two downtown malls with lots of shops and a movie theatre in the latter. I saw Secret Window. The only good thing about that film was lots and lots of Johnny Depp. I say wait until it comes out on rental.
In spite of the things I had to do while in Seattle, I did have some time to explore and sightsee. On Sunday when I was there, I went to a lovely concert by the Seattle Choral Company, as they performed, in toto, Rachmaninoff's Vespers. It was lovely, even if it was a cappella Russian. Then, I had dinner with a friend at Sky City, a revolving restaurant atop the Space Needle. We were seated right at sunset, and the view was spectacular. As the restaurant turned, I could see the bay, then the skyline, then the Mountains to the east, all at sunset. And for desert, I had smoking ice cream! They bought a dish of ice cream suspended over a larger dish with dry ice. As the waiter poured water in, it was smoking! I realize it is an inexpensive "presentation" ploy, but it was so much fun! I laughed out loud, which I only realized as the other tables around were staring at me. But then, they all ordered it, too! It was fabulous.
I also got to see the Seattle Art Museum, a horrible disappointment to me. The Native American art there was really interesting, as was the European Art. Unfortunately, the latter was a small portion of the museum, and much of it was closed in preparation for a new exhibit. I simply did not enjoy floors of Asian and African exhibits.
Also, while in Seattle, I bought some lovely jewelry, with stones made from the ashes of the Mount St. Helen's eruption in 1980. It is referred to as Mount Saint Helen's Stone, or Helenite. Anyway, it is a lovely dark green, darker than most emeralds, and perfect (as it is somewhat processes or synthetic).
On the whole , it was a nice trip, and my flights were all fine, except for the connection back. I flew to Chicago and then to Seattle, and on the return, the reverse. However, my flight from Chicago to Dayton was interesting. We were all boarded and prepared to take off. Unfortunately, the ground crew did not detach and retract the jetliner walkway first, they just began moving it. That damaged the door and I suspect, the door frame, as we were deplaned and informed that there would be an hour delay while maintenance fixed the plane. Apparently, they were unable to do so, as the flight was cancelled. As the weather earlier in Seattle and much of the northern midwest had been bad earlier that day, many flights were delayed, resulting in a shortage of aircraft at O'Hare. Flights to even Dallas and other warm-weather cities was also delayed, due to "aircraft availability" issues. So I ended up spending that night in Chicago. Fortunately, I did arrive safely the next morning in Dayton, but United will be hearing from me, primarily due to the rudeness of some of its personnel (although the sheer idiocy of how they damaged the door certainly gives me pause for my general safety when flying).
Other news, I will be going back to the Cleveland Clinic during Holy Week for additional poking and prodding; my promotion at work finally showed up in my paycheck, and I am busy as usual. Recent films I have seen and recommend:
Passion of the Christ
Girl with a Pearl Earring
Some I would not recommend:
Secret Window
School of Rock
Something's Got to Give (worth seeing, but not at theatre prices)
Miracle (worth seeing, but not at theatre prices)
Hidalgo (worth seeing, but not at theatre prices)
Monster (worth renting)
50 first dates (worth renting)