happy as a tumblweed

Day 12: @Albany, @San Francisco, CA. Got my haircut by Atsuko of Hair Solano. Had jubilant and bouncy hop to my step all afternoon. Also tried very hard to not look too vain about taking a photo of myself, and failed miserably. Hence, no photo. After briefly dropping by the high school on my way to the BART station, met up with Alex in San Francisco for the perfect shopping afternoon downtown (hit the all important three B’s: Barney’s, Bloomy’s, and Beard Papa’s!). Was repeatedly surprised by positive reaction to neon yellow nails.

Bused down to the AT&T Ballpark to watching the San Francisco Opera’s telecast of Puccini’s Tosca with Cristina. Last summer I saw Lucia di Lammermoor at the War Memorial Opera House, but our seats were so far removed from the actual stage that I remember having to squint to see the stage movements and the actors’ facial expressions. This time, since the performance was broadcast live on the HD screen in the stadium, the image was unbelievably sharp. The acoustics also were surprisingly better than expected, and the ambience was just as theatrical as the production itself. At 8pm, the moon had just risen over the park and as the sky darkened, the sea clouds  would seemingly roll in at dramatic moments. One particularly appropriate moment occurred during Act II, when Tosca was faced with the decision to give herself to her lover’s prisoner in exchange for his freedom. Just as she began to bemoan her plight, multiple flocks of sea gulls swarmed the stadium and again, when she stabbed the Baron: “Is your blood choking you? Die and be damned!”

Took midnight stroll along the Embarcadero on the way back to BART, and admired a hundred twinkling pier lights.

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