And where is this coming from, Cassandra?

Glad to read you're starting to see the [light and dark] humor of the situation. That way lies sanity.

I liked it very much, and you're right that it was much more "modern" than what we're used to at SF Opera while being easily listenable at the same time. I asked one of the singers afterwards if it was fiendishly difficult to sing, and she replied, "Oh, yeah, you have NO idea."

I loved this story, and so did mom from the look of it.

You one issue voter, you.

Dear Hattie: Most people not being able/interested to read your expressions in Hawaii but able to do so in Seattle (particularly since they are family) is an interesting observation. I have the opposite of a poker face which has gotten me into trouble all my life, but has helped keep me honest too. Also means I'm not half-bad on stage. I wouldn't see the Tina Fey movie if you paid me. Using Afghanistan as the background for a girlie comedy strikes me as grotesque, and the casting of gringos as Afghanis in the 21st century is sort of obscene. Between a few blogs and Facebook, I've been watching Sanders and Clinton fans duking it out over the last year and it's been fascinating, sort of a Rorschach test for all kinds of buried personal issues being waved around as political truths. Most of my "friends" are on the Sanders side but there are a few mean broads, and I use that phrase in the most complimentary sense, who have been Clinton partisans like yourself. So I loved your "looking forward to seeing Hillary Clinton mop the floor with Donald Trump." That should become an internet campaign slogan.

Dear Hattie: I just left you the following over at my blog but figure you might want to act on it sooner rather than later: I just checked the Seattle Symphony website and the tickets run from about $40 to $90, so I'm not sure where you're getting the several hundred dollars a piece figure. Here's a link to buy tickets at their website: http://www.seattlesymphony.org/concerttickets/calendar

Dear Harrie: If you are in Seattle next week, you should go to this Symphony concert. John Adams is awesome. http://www.seattletimes.com/entertainment/classical-music/turning-the-arabian-nights-on-its-head-john-adams-conducts-scheherazade2-at-seattle-symphony/

How did we not see each other yesterday afternoon? Thoroughly enjoyed the performance too.

I've deliberately avoided the Murderer series because it's designed to make you furious, and who needs that right now? Stop watching immediately. Loved your blanket condemnation of Wisconsin, though. I've heard similar reactions but never quite as detailed.

Though I'm voting for him in the primaries, I'm loving your cranky Bernie bashing, as in, "I am beginning to worry that he doesn't sound all that smart sometimes."

I like this one. And congratulations on tackling The Tale of Genjj. How many "parts" are there?

What Art Scene are you referring to?

I love the use of the word "unspeakably." Very Eddie Poe.

I giggled at the ghosts, too, particularly since they were not very ghostly.

The 9/11 Truthers are like some group in a Thomas Pynchon novel, where you're not sure if the author is basing them on historical truth or complete invention until you do a little research. In this case, they are real. It's hard to blame them for their paranoia and Search for Truth, though, since the official government story has been poppycock since day one to any intelligent person paying even the slightest attention. Where the historical truth lies is anybody's guess, though, and creating a whole new mythology based on conspiracy theories only muddies the waters further.

I love Verdi. I think it was Britten who included him as one of those rare composers whose music he so respected that even when he didn't like a piece, he figured the problem was him as a listener. So hearing "Luisa Miller" should be a special treat, and what I heard of the music last night was wonderful. However, the production wasn't bad so much as it was lackluster, and this kind of opera needs special care. It made me want to go home and listen to a great recording instead.

I sort of love that some of the society crowd decided not to watch any more of that boring old opera and kept partying in the lobby after intermission. It feels like tradition is being upheld.

Well done. And I loved the phrase, "a certain flirtatious way about him..."

"This did not help much in explaining the action to someone unfamiliar with the operas at hand" may be the understatement of the year. Agree with you about all the performances (loved Bryce-Davis and Yoon), and how the concert is really not the best choice for an opera neophyte.

No problem. I managed to get the right day in my Festival preview with the wrong date, not to mention writing "Jean Marais" instead of "Marin Marais." Our darned fact-checkers may be the sloppiest, laziest crew ever.

Dear OT: I think the originally scheduled performance of Sémélé was for Friday the 14th because most of the tickets for that are gone, while the added performance is on Thursday the 13th where there seems to be better availability. Hope to see you there.

Interesting essay, and Barbara "experiencing cognitive dissonance is painful" is a wise goddess.

Heard it from the balcony again last night, and the performances by everyone were even better than on Sunday. By the final outing, the ensemble should be so good it will take us directly to heaven.

Thank you for the tattling. The demonstrative, chatty MAKING OUT through all of Act One couple were a momentary distraction. The nearby wuss of a volunteer usher was no help, so at the beginning of the second act, after they took a bathroom break and returned for more conversation, I whispered, "Shut your f---ing mouths" directly into their ears. The distaff side of the couple turned around and gave me a Medusa-intensity stare, which I had the courage to return. Still, I found a nearby rail to stand against for Acts 3 and 4. They left at intermission before Act 5, and I sat in their primo seats with Elsa, a fellow standee I had met that afternoon. "I didn't think they would last as long as they did," Elsa said, and I replied, "They probably did so just to try and spite me," which made us both laugh before we were soon crying over the Fates splitting up Dido and Aeneas.