A long time coming....

Sorry if I had been conspicuously absent from my blog.  Let me break down the highlights of the past 3-4 months:

Opera time!

 I saw two operas at the San Diego Opera; one being the West Coast premier of a new opera, Moby Dick, by Jake Heggie and the libretto written by Gene Sheer.  Having read the book years ago as a teenager, I had a general idea of what went on during the opera.  It's obvious that the creators of the opera took some liberties (e.g. Ishmael was known as "Greenhorn" throughout most of the performance).  Going to the opera was part of my Christmas present from my mom so we both went to see it and we loved every minute.  It was a real treat to see this.  For those living in Northern California, Moby Dick will be at the San Francisco Opera in the 2012-2013 season and I encourage you to go see it!

The second opera my mom and I saw was one of Gioachino Rossini's most famous operas (and most pop-culturally referenced), The Barber of Seville.  I truly liked this one better than the previous opera that we saw.  This opera was based on a play and it is considered the "prequel" to The Marriage of Figaro opera by Wolfgang A. Mozart, which is also based on a play (I had seen Marriage of Figaro five years earlier).  Barber of Seville is notorious for the Largo al Factotum aria sung by Figaro, a barber and jack-of-all-trades, including veterinarian, beautician, and matchmaker.  Here's a clip of the aria and some might recognize the music:

Yes, it's that piece with "Figaro, Figaro, Figaro" in it.  In Largo al Factotum, Figaro sings about how important his job is (Largo al Factotum translates to "make way for the factotum" or "make way for the servant").  This piece is generally a tough one for baritones to sing.  The opera itself is about a barber named Figaro in 17th century Seville, Spain.  He plays Cupid for Count Almaviva who is smitten with the lovely Rosina who is held captive by her aging guardian, Don Bartolo, who is intent on marrying her solely for her dowry.  Hilarity and mistaken identity ensue. If your local opera house is presenting this, I highly encourage you to see it; it's funny and family friendly (well, somewhat).

Next season, Mom and I will go see The Daughter of the Regiment by Gaetano Donizetti, Samson and Delilah by Camille Sant-Saens, Murder in the Cathedral by Ildebrando Pizzetti, and possibly Aida by Giuseppe Verdi (I had already seen a production of it in 2008 but this one has set designs by Zandra Rhodes).

Video games!

I got a Wii a year and a half ago and still didn't do much with it until I finally bought Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.  I'm not too much of a gamer but I do like playing video games and two of my favorites are the game series(s): Call of Duty and Sid Meier's Civilization.

I have played a game or two from the Legend of Zelda series, which I have a basic understanding (the game series is now 26 years old), but I've pretty much immersed myself into Twilight Princess.  It's been out on the market for six years now but I didn't get around to buying it because I didn't have a Wii six years ago.  It's a fantastic game with awesome graphics and a great storyline.  It's a little dark for the kiddos but it's a great boredom killer on a rainy day or a sick day or a rainy-sick day.  Here's the trailer:

Disneyland!

Yep, I went to the "Happiest Place On Earth" with my mom and a friend of mine who lived nearby (I live in the San Diego, CA area, which is approximately 90 minutes south of Anaheim, where Disneyland is).  It was the first time my mom and I ever rode Amtrak (Mom refuses to drive the 90 minutes for fear of getting lost).  The trip was supposed to take 2 hours but took almost 3 hours for some apparently weird reason (Mom and I were frustrated about the delay so I sent an email to Amtrak, which probably won't be answered for another several weeks according to a "response" email I got).  So we were late getting to the park as was my friend (parking and waiting in line).

We went on almost every ride we could get our hands on.  The Matterhorn was closed for repairs, the Tiki Room show wasn't showing and the Monorail was also not working but we went on Splash Mountain twice, rode the Thunder Mountain railroad, enjoyed classic rides such as the Pirates of the Caribbean and the Haunted Mansion, and "drove" cars in Autopia.  Since that was a day trip, Mom and I decided to make it a vacation the next time around and stay for a few days to go see Disney's California Adventure.

That's all I've got for today.  Till then, stay happy everyone!

You can't always get what you want

We, as a society, sometimes pitch a figurative temper tantrum whenever we can't get what we want or not get our way.  Like a five-year-old in the candy section of the grocery store or the Barbie section of Toys-R-Us, we would figuratively fall on our backs, kicking our feet and waving our fists all while screaming at the top of our lungs because we didn't get our way.  Even I admit to having this selfish attribute although I don't really pitch a fit because I can't afford the latest edition of the iPad or a Kindle Fire. 

What inspired this blog post was something I saw on my work commute yesterday.  I had sat down on the bus that was to go from one trolley/metro station to another.  A mother and her young daughter, about three years old, sat in front of me.  Once the bus was approaching the intended stop, I pulled the stop cord to signal the driver to drop me off at the next bus stop.  Just a nanosecond after I had done that, the young girl tried to reach for the same cord so SHE could pull it down but her mother pulled her away from it.  The young girl then turned around and gave me the dirtiest look she could give, stuck her tongue out at me, shook her little tiny fist, and then pretended to throw something at me by doing a throwing motion with her hand.  I took all of this in stride and merely smiled at her, which probably made her angrier.  However, she didn't pitch a hissy fit or anything and was well behaved after they got off of the bus stop.

Most of the time when we don't get our way, we shrug it off but sometimes it tends to stew a bit in our egos and it sometimes leads to jealousy.  In the Bible in the book of Philippians 2:3, it states that nothing should be done in selfishness.  "Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself."  Also look at James 3:14-16.  "But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth.  This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic.  For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion and every evil thing are there."

Yes folks, selfishness and envy, according to James 3:14-16, are "demonic."  It's human nature to lust or want something that someone else has or has done, but to dwell or stew in envious misery, is to sin against God.  Angry that your neighbor has a new big screen TV while all you could afford was one half that size?  Envy and jealousy do not make the "problem" bigger; they only compound it. 

From my experience, I've learned to forget what made me jealous in the first place.  It's best to count your blessings and be thankful for what you have, especially during the past holiday season when you were hoping Santa would drop an XBox 360 under the tree and finding out that you got a new blender instead.  After hoping and dreaming of a Kindle under the tree last month, I finally got the chance to rip all those boxes tagged "To Shannon" on them to shreds.  What I found was a new blouse, new pajamas, an apple slicer, a headset to plug into my TV (kinda like the TV Ears), and opera tickets (which made my Christmas), but no Kindle.  My dad confessed that he had intended to buy Kindles for both Mom and myself but unfortunately, only had enough money to buy one due to financial issues (his debit card was declined at the local grocery store the week prior, which made him very upset).  He promised that he would buy me one in the near future and until then, Mom and I had to share the Kindle (but technically, the e-reader still belonged to Mom).  I felt disappointed and I think most of us would feel that way, too, but I also felt jealous.  However, my jealousy made me feel ungrateful and selfish, knowing that my dad had me in mind when he went to Best Buy to pick out Mom's Christmas gift.  Plus, opera tickets are not cheap so getting those made up for my lack of an e-reader.  Still, perhaps I could save up my own money so Dad wouldn't have to buy me one but if he offered to do just that, then I won't complain.  :)  Besides, I have financial issues of my own so I can definitely empathize with my father.  I have learned to put aside my envy and selfishness knowing that my Dad had my best interests in heart and realizing that he needed to stay on a budget because of his financial situation.  And I still love my parents. :)

We all need to stop grimacing and shaking our fists at God and the world because we never got our way or got what we wanted.  We need to stop being ungrateful and being thankful for what we have in our lives and give thanks to God for being our Provider.  Just like The Rolling Stones song says, "You can't always get what you want."