Petrouchka

Well, that was an unintended break for you all. I have been so swamped at work I didn't have time to think much less post anything. And I was so tired of being on the computer that there was no way I was doing it at home. Why do I always have so much to say until I sit down to write?

Two Thursdays ago I had the worst massage of my life. It was completely worthless. First off, it was supposed to be deep tissue and it was barely Swedish! Secondly, it was supposed to be a full hour and I would say I was lucky if it was 45 minutes. And I won't even mention the fact that they messed up the appointment time. If you live in the Detroit area, avoid the Silk Spa (spa here is used to denote a place so un-spa-like that it's unimaginable) on Michigan Avenue. The "atmosphere" was appalling, the people were "interesting." The hair stylist in the front chair spent one entire hair cut on his CELL PHONE! And at one point, he left his "client" to write down a phone number. It was just incredibly unprofessional all the way around.

That massage was so worthless that I scheduled another one (different spa) for this past Saturday. I tried going to my regular massage therapist but some reason she wasn't doing full body massages on Saturday, just chair massages, and that was not going to work! I had rec'd two $50 gift certificates for spafinder.com which is why I was trying new places. I used the first one at the shitty place and then the second one on Saturday. If you are looking for a good deep tissue massage, I highly recommend the Om Spa. I had lucked out when calling because there had been a cancellation just 30 minutes before. My plan to sleep until noon on Saturday was blown all to hell as the appt. was at 9:00 a.m. but I was too desperate for a massage to worry about that. My body is essentially one big knotted pained muscle. Jill, the massage therapist, was just getting started and she said, "I don't know where to start." since I was so incredibly tense. And about 15 minutes in, she asked "Have you ever considered getting a 90-minute deep tissue massage?" I laughed, since I had just been thinking that it might be necessary. In the end, I would definitely recommend Jill to anyone who is interested in a true deep tissue massage, even at Om Spa's prices!

Last weekend (first of February) was spent in Chicago with friends, Julieu, DWD, BST, C&P and DC. We went for a friend's wedding and it was a very fun weekend. We laughed a LOT! I got to dance at the wedding to Sisters, Iggy, Nick, and Peter, so it was all good. We got home on Sunday in time to see Aretha singing the National Anthem at the Super Bow, so that was pretty darn good timing. I actually paid attention to the game this year (the last couple of years I haven't even bothered with the commercials) and was very happy for Pittsburgh. We blue-collar cities have to stick together!

It's now Olympics time and I will confess that I generally don't get too excited about them. I did watch a bit of the second period of the Sweden/Russia Women's Hockey game on Saturday, but that's literally been all I've seen so far. I might watch some of the Men's hockey and I hope to catch some of the curling, but that's about it. I don't think the U.S. Men's Hockey team has a chance in heck, so I'm rooting for Sweden. Not over the U.S., of course, but they are my first choice after the U.S. I so hate Wiyne Gretzky that I hope Canada doesn't get a medal. I'm really sorry to all the players on the Canadian team that I like, but as long as that man has anything to do their team I won't be rooting for them. The way he whined at the last Olympics "Nobody wants us to win. Wah." Yo, Wayne, here's a shocker. We might all be rooting for our own countries. Dumbfuck. Sorry…

I have a couple of movie recommendations today. First, if you haven't already seen Crash, do yourself a favor and move it to the top of your Netflix queue. I was blown away by it, so much so that I watched it TWICE that night. The second time with the commentary on, but I rarely ever watch the commentary. I've now seen three (Capote and Brokeback Mountain) of the Best Movie nominees and I have to say that I'm hoping for Crash. The other movie is a bit older (1950) and stars Humphrey Bogart - In A Lonely Place. If you don’t like movies that are a tad sad, don't bother with this one. And if you read the synopsis, please note that there are mistakes in it. The girl was a coat checkroom girl, not a secretary, and Gloria Grahame didn't lie about seeing the girl leave alone. Details, perhaps, but it makes you wonder what else they got wrong.

Friday was my first official DSO concert of 2006 (the Mahler in January was not part of my season tickets) and I got to see/hear Midori play Tchaikowsky's Violin Concerto. It was FABULOUS. This week's concert is called Classical Fairytales with The Sorcerer's Apprentice scheduled along with two Stravinsky pieces and a Ravel. I had been thinking of finding someone to take the tickets, but that was before I saw the schedule. I have a thing for the 20th Century Russian composers. Hell, I have a thing for Russian composers, in general. Except Borodin…can't stand Borodin.

Now I must get back to the battle. I hope all is well in blog-land and that I have time to catch up on everybody's lives.