In the opposite of a guilty pleasure, Patrick and I watched Hotel Rwanda last night. It was an amazing, powerful movie, and I'm glad that we saw it. However, I also spent a lot of it in tears. Not a light or "guilty" pleasure at all, but a wonderful movie. I wish it had won an Oscar.

Now it's the weekend, and I am--at long last--finishing up the research and writing for my upcoming pre-opera talk, on Humperdinck's Hansel and Gretel. As usual, procrastination has carried me to a panicky last-minute point...but then, since that's how I've gotten every paper in my life written up, I'm not too bothered. (Not yet, anyway!)

I also spent this morning re-reading Masks & Shadows, for the first time since July. And the amazing thing was, I really liked it. After six months off, I was able to read it almost as if it were new and written by someone else...and it's definitely the kind of book I enjoy reading. So...big sigh of relief. At the same time, the suggestions I got for it were hugely helpful, so I'll be spending the next few weeks cleaning up loose ends, clarifying some turning points and relationships, and basically just tightening everything up a bit more. It all feels very do-able. Whew.

Time for Nika's walk now, and then back to 19th-century German fairy-tale operas. Wish me luck!