Puccini and picnics

Saw Tosca last night, in the very very back row, and it was wonderful. Victoria! chills. I hadnt ever seen it, though the arias were familiar, as I like to listen to Voices of Puccini, and Puccini's Heroins, while i bake. which i precisely what i am doing this morning. i am definetly going to the lyric again, next for Madame Butterfly i think. while we went in my friend joked that we would be the youngest people in the audience, he expected everyone to be like antique teacups, white and frail and expensive. but i saw numerous colors of hair beyond white, including pink and neon red. the people were really interesting and of all sorts. it was fun. and now i am baking muffins to take to an old-fashioned picnic later today. i hope they are delicious. here's the recipe:

brown sugar oat flax cranberry muffins:

1 cup old-fashioned oats

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

2 eggs

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup (soy)milk

1/4 cup oil

1 tsp vanilla

good sprinkling of ground flax

couple handfulls of dried cranberries

mix dry (minus sugar) and wet (plus sugar) seperate and then together, bake at 400 about 10 minutes. put in cute picnic basket, take to park, enjoy!

a springbreak for me

im on spring break. one of the perks of still being a student is the gift of things like "spring break." no, im not on my way to an island. and, yes, i still have work to do. but, still, its spring break and the weather outside is springtime, oh its springtime! i have to calm my enthusiasm, as winter is likely only hiding around the corner, planning once more to pounce out as im skipping down the sidewalk singing songs about the sun and flowers and spring. so, im celebrating springbreak in slightly less than normal ways - if mexico and tequila shots are normal. yesterday i signed up for a half marathon and used an old barnesandnoble gift card that had been burning a hole in my wallet for i dont know how long. (i picked up a 5$ gardening book, A Game As Old As Empire, and the new album from Lucinda Williams) and recaulked around the tub. what a good day! today i walked about the fells point area in baltimore and used a credit slip (that had not been in my wallet nearly as long as the b&n card) at SoundGarden, a beloved record store. its mandatory that i mention, though its surely obvious, how a person should never buy music from b&n while places such as SoundGarden exist. i noticed that the lucinda williams cd was several dollars cheaper, everything was better, i dont even want to elaborate on it. so, duh, dont buy music at b&n. but surely, if you have a gift card, use it please, who wants to give a donation by not using a big-store gift card? anyhow, i digress, the point of this post is my glorious day. at SoundGarden i bought The Be Good Tanyas, which is my new favorite. ive been in a serious, serious reminiscent mood of late. old folky bluegrass music like i heard as i grew up with LAFTA (lincoln association for traditional arts?) house concerts in my living room, banjos hammer dulcimers guitars and harmonicas and wonderful people. so, at heart im a folky and after years of punk and emo/indi pop whatever its called i dont really know, im going back, at least for a bit, to bluegrass and folk. and The Be Good Tanyas are a fantastic way about it. I also picked up bit of Old Crow Medicine Show.
now, to top of a gorgeous day, im at one of my favorite coffee spots, in a window, with a wellpoured soy latte. what a gorgeous day!