Damn, I've had a good week. Here's what happened...

On Tuesday, I saw San Gabriel Seven, a local jazz band fronted by my friend Dominic. The band was talented and the venue was very posh. :)

Wednesday, John and I went shopping for stuff to wear on Friday (see below). Had a voice lesson. Rested.

On Thursday, we saw the King Tut exhibit at LACMA. It was nice, saw some impressive craftsmanship in gold and lapis lazuli, learned a lot about ancient Egyptian ideas on death and the afterlife... but where was King Tut? They actually didn't show very much from his tomb, which was a bit anti-climactic, don't you think?

That night I attended Lindy Groove's Haunted Costume Ball, which was the most impressive costume party I've ever been to! Everyone there was in costume! And really, really, good costumes too! There were some really convincing zombies and pirate ghosts... in addition to a few more, hmm, innovative costumes like Bubble Bath Girl and Neon People... :) I went as Sexy Scientist. A few people objected, "So, you came as yourself!!" while others flirted, "Will you take my temperature, Doctor?" :P But as you, my loyal readers have requested, I will be posting pictures soon...

Friday was Magic Castle -- an upscale magic-themed club set in a large and very confusing castle in Hollywood. Invisible Irma was there -- she played Sweet Caroline for us... :) Melissa and I wore our hilarious dresses and looked fabulous. One of the magicians told us we were dressed like the girls from Mothra. YES! Also, we saw a magic act in which SO MUCH poultry was summoned from midair...

Saturday, John cleaned my kitchen. He cleaned my kitchen, people!!

Sunday, John and I christened the new kitchen by consuming a real meal in it. That was wonderful...

We also went to Huntington Gardens and checked out the new Conservatory for Botanical Sciences, which was superfun and interesting. There's an exhibit on bogs and carniverous plants, which was of special interest to me, given my reputation... ("beautiful, but deadly!!") Also, we're members now! That means I can take one guest per visit for free from now on... any takers?

Sunday evening we went to the Walt Disney Concert Hall, the new shiny curvaceous building on Grand Avenue. Inside we saw a violin recital by Midori (accompanied by Charles Abromovic on piano). It was amazing... how do you produce such a full and rich sound, with just two instruments, and no microphones?! They did a Prokofiev piece, which was utterly breathtaking...

Now John's on a plane, which makes me sad. Time to return to the ordinary life...

I'm baaaa-aaaaack! I think the month of November will be Hawaii-free. Yay! John's flying in this week to visit... double yay! I just finished cleaning the apartment in preparation for his arrival... scrubbing, vacuuming, bleaching, laundering, the works!

I looked at an apartment in Arcadia today. It's nice. But I wonder: do I really hate it enough at my current apartment to make all the effort to move someplace farther away and more expensive? I might as well move back to my parents' place... now that I'm not gettin' any in California, maybe I'll even be able to obey ...THE RULE...

Upcoming events:

Thursday: Lindy Groove Halloween Party. Should I go as Trinity, or Sexy Scientist? I'm not brave enough to be Wonder Woman or Santa Girl!

Friday: Magic Castle Halloween Party. Melissa and I are going as... girls dressed in identical, hilarious dresses! Imagine a fitted white dress with a miniskirt, covered in bubble-gum-hippy style, neon-colored, red pink and yellow flowers. Now, imagine TWO of them! That is our costume. :)

Sunday: Midori recital at the Walt Disney Concert Hall. *excited*

Miscellaneous weekend: Not sure yet! A visit to Ameoba Music is in order, in addition to going to LACMA for the King Tut exhibit or the J. Paul Getty museum...

Later: I'm going to Georgia to meet his *family* and learn how to speak with a Southern accent. Doesn't that sound fun?!

Last week was full of strange coincidences... random yet interconnected events as though the universe is trying tell us something...

A few days before the **Neil Diamond** concert, there was a story on NPR about the stadium-wide sing-along tradition at Fenway Park. At all the Red Sox games for the past I-don't-know-how-many years, the fans join together for a chorus of Neil's own "Sweet Caroline." It goes something like this:

NEIL: Sweet Caroline...
CROWD: Ba ba ba!
NEIL: Good times never seemed so good...
CROWD: So good! So good! So good! So good!

Hmm, isn't it odd that everybody knows to do this? I don't even think the "so good" part even appears in the song...

Anyway, I went to the Neil Diamond concert a few days later, and sure enough, the crowd came in right on cue...!

Later, I found myself at a restaurant in Hawaii, with a singer-guitarist performing miscellaneous rock covers during our meal. By request, he sang, you guessed it, "Sweet Caroline," complete with breaks in the song for us to chime in. So there I was, singing my "ba ba ba's" and my "so goods" next to a table of Texans doing the same.

Apparently, Neil has written a hook that has penetrated the American collective consciousness... from Boston to Los Angeles to Waikoloa to San Antonio! Thank you Neil! Thank you!