When Emma asked me if I wanted to go to the 7:30 RSO with her, I said I shouldn't because I already had tickets to the 9:30 show and I figured that once was enough. Well, after seeing it, I kind of wish I had gone to both.

I'm getting ahead of myself, though. You probably don't know what RSO is, if you're reading this. Rated RSO is a show that the composer Ryan Scott Oliver (see what he did there?) has been doing since last summer, featuring music from shows he has composed and other projects. It just so happens that some of my favorite people have also been attached to this project, which is what piqued my interest in the first place. It was just lucky that his music happened to be fantastic too.

The energy in Joe's Pub was off the charts last night - maybe it was a result of this being the "last" of the series, or the fact that there were so many amazing people involved (the cast was larger than usual, and all incredibly talented), or the fact that I knew half the audience or some combination of those factors. But it was an incredible night. There were a ton of songs I already knew, which were performed beautifully and at times by new singers, but there were also some stunning new songs I had never heard. "The Odyssey" was one of those, and it was absolutely gorgeous.

Of course, I am still holding out hope that the next show from Mr. Oliver will include a repeat performance of "Cut You a Piece", or that it will at least go up on YouTube.

And then I pretty much overdosed on love after the show ended, but I won't get into that here.

I'm trying to think of interesting ways to update you, dear reader(s), on what is happening in my life lately without sounding like a broken record, because I really have done a lot of the same stuff this past week, but I'm drawing a blank.

I'm working at going out less, especially during the week, and going to fewer "events", though that's almost impossible in the next few months with all the cabarets and shows coming up. I also kind of failed at that this week. Going to Therapy (a HK gay bar) on Tuesday was definitely worth it, though, to hear Matt (this guy) sing "My Man" and be generally looser than I'm used to seeing him. We even got him to dance with us to "You Can't Stop the Beat" when they played it - of course L and I know all the choreography. Please. It's actually been a week full of Matt run-ins, since we had a good long gossip session while walking home from work (for him) and shopping (for me, L and S) on Saturday night, too.

And one of my other Ls came home from being out of the country, so having do-nothing-but-curl-up-on-the-couch-and-watch-Toddlers-and-Tiaras time was wonderful. And there were cupcakes involved, which is always always a good thing.

OH, and thanks to my wonderful aunt, uncle and cousins, I had a gift card to the Colony, which I used to purchase this: The Judy Garland Souvenir Songbook. My friends have decided I need to use one of these songs to audition for the non-eq Wizard of Oz tour and/or American Idol. Ha.

I'm going to finish out this lovely day off by doing nothing but laundry and lounging. I might even venture to Amy's Bread for a snack later, but let's not get too crazy. I have lots of interviews to conduct this week at work, and no major plans for the weekend yet, which means the possibilities are wide open (though we are probably going to Rockwood on Friday for the third week in a row, and post-Rockwood karaoke was suggested). Suggestions are welcome.

<3

Sometimes I can't believe the hatred that spews out of the mouths of people who claim to be doing work of "God". I won't get into questions of religion and my personal beliefs here, because I think that's a very private matter, but I will say that if there's one thing I do believe in, it is that we are all deserving of love and equality. I think that's pretty obvious.

Lazy weekend.

Last night I caught a nice little set from Johnny Gallagher in the East Village with my friends Louise and Rob, and then we hit my favorite Italian place followed by my favorite trashy dive bar.

I must say that my decision to wear cowboy boots was a great choice, and that Rudy's will stay classy forever. There was even a dance party to "Single Ladies" with a bunch of random cute hipster boys; my favorites were the trapper hat guy and the one who asked each of us who we were putting a ring on.

Today has been lazy, and I've loved every minute of it. In fact, I've barely left my room, let alone my apartment. I'll venture out into the icy air in a few to pick up some things, but aside from that it's a quiet night in HK, my friends. All the better to celebrate deadline week.

Back to reality, barely.

I made it back to NYC after a lovely little break in Tennessee and Texas. The holidays were nice, if uneventful. Actually, I think they were nice because they were uneventful. Mine were comprised mostly of hangtime with the family, playing with puppies, playing the piano and watching a lot of movies.

Then it was back to the city and "real life", if you can call it that. I've already caught up with most of my lovelies here in a span of 2 days, so you could call that a success. I also consider it a success that I was able to introduce Emma to the joy of Will & Grace. Seriously, she'd never seen it. Ridiculous, I know.

Somehow in that span of two days, I've also managed to hit up several of my favorite eateries, at least the ones in my neighborhood. Just FYI, ice cream shouldn't crunch - Five Napkin seems to have issues with their desserts, but we always come back. And it was a small joy that the barista at Amy's Bread remembered how I take my tea. Sure, it was only a matter of weeks since I'd been there, but considering how frequently I'm usually there, I considered it a success.

Yesterday was also a sad day - the final performance of Aaron Tveit (and therefore the OBC) in next to normal. Louise and I went, sitting in excellent seats I was able to get thanks to a tip from Adam, and cried our little eyes out.

I'd write a mini review, but most of you haven't seen it and wouldn't really be interested in the details, so I'll just say that it was an incredible show, though also incredibly sad, but I'm quite glad I was able to be there.

Now it's back to work. Joy.