Author Archives: JJD
Flood! (A Tale of Woe)
I got home from work around midnight last night, looking forward to going right to bed. I dropped my briefcase by my desk in the sunroom, changed into pajamas, and went to turn down the covers — but found myself instead splashing through a good half-inch of water. That’s right: SPLASHING. At first, it didn’t register. […]
84
The number of hours I billed in the past seven days (24 of which were yesterday and today).
Mormons on Broadway
The new Broadway musical, The Book of Mormon, has gotten a lot of attention lately. The theatre world is abuzz because it’s apparently really good. The critic for The New York Times, for example, calls it “heaven on Broadway.” The show has 14 Tony Award nominations, more than any other musical this year. The Mormon world is abuzz because, well, it’s a […]
Vamos a Peru!
At long last, plans for the 2011 summer trip have begun to gel: Amanda and I are going to Peru for two weeks (last week of June, first week of July). Both of us feel much better now, with something concrete that we can plan for. Picking a destination for this summer has been no […]
Hojotoho!
That is what the Valkyries say during their famous ride. (Query whether “Geronimo” isn’t a better war cry.) Today was the live broadcast of the Met Opera’s new production of Die Walkure, the second installment of Wagner’s Ring Cycle. The performance was supposed to start at 12:00, so I got to the theater at 11:00am to camp […]
Kafka sur le Rivage
A lot of contemporary novels seem to follow a distressing pattern: They captivate from the very first line with dazzling prose and a “voice” that seems new and fresh, but then the cleverness turns out to be preciousness, and reading becomes a chore; I wish they would end about a hundred pages before they actually […]
Follies
Yesterday the Kennedy Center launched its new production of Stephen Sondheim’s Follies. Naturally, I was in the audience. According to the press, the production costs topped $7 million, making this is the most expensive local theatre production ever: for Washington DC. When you look at the cast, it’s not hard to imagine that most of the budget […]
Le Beau Monde
Tonight Ron and Debbie H (my mission president) hosted an open house to celebrate their youngest son Matt’s recent marriage. I went and had a great time. It is always good to see the H family, and there were a few other former missionaries there, as well, so we were able to catch up. I […]
Midwest Adventures, Part 2: Indianapolis
For some reason, it is impossible to fly from Columbus to Indianapolis without going through, say, Phoenix, which of course is absurd. So, having finished my work at the Columbus station around 3pm yesterday, I packed up in my little red rented car and drove the 3 hours from one city to the other. This […]
Nerk!
Newark is a town in Ohio. No fear of confusing it with Newark, New Jersey, though: this one is pronounced “Nerk.” A few years ago some comedian said it that way to make people laugh — and it stuck!
A More Gentlemanlike Manner 