March 25, 2006

I went to see Madam Butterfly last night. I've seen a few operas this season and I have to say I enjoyed this one the most. I'm not sure how much of an opera fan I consider myself to be, but I plan to seek out a few in the future.

A regret I have is never having become proficient in any other language. The opera was set in Japan with Japanese characters, sung in Italian, and I read the subtitles in English.
Maybe it's my lack of language experience, but that felt weird to me. I can see that Italian is a great language for opera and all, but it still felt weird. The soprano thing is a reason
I avoided the opera in the past, but I find that if I am caught up in the story, the singing can be felt as the emotional expression, therefore, not nearly as annoying as when I happen to come across it elsewhere.

It was a full house and that means the parking garage was pretty full. We got there later
than usual, but still not late, and had to park pretty high up in the garage. As we were leaving, we didn't move in our line for 20-30 minutes as the lower levels emptied out.
Finally, we started creeping a bit. There was a ramp from an upper level with cars wanting to join in the line. A vehicle a few cars ahead let several of them in so I didn't feel
obligated to do so since we hadn't really moved at all. As I was at that place, a humongous SUV decided he was going to get in front of me no matter what I thought about it. He came very close and wedged himself in such a way that I was unable to continue straight.

I've been listening to Dr. Phil talk about assertive vs aggressive and decided this guy was being aggressive and I didn't have to take it. I had a few inches to turn my wheels and move just enough to block him. Heh. I felt I was being assertive. He honked at me and then had to follow me out of the garage :)

This helped me see that my lack of assertiveness with the women in the pool at the Y really is more about my being uncomfortable in deep water than anything else. The cure for that is to become a stronger swimmer.

Continuing the people thinking, dealing with people for work as I do, this month has been the easiest one yet since starting this job. Everyone has been pleasant to deal with.
I say somehow the weather is involved, but I have no idea how.