I finally got out of the house...

Last night I did something I rarely do when I'm in first-draft hell - I took a day off. Drove up to Berkeley to have dinner with friends and attend a concert.

And God, did it bring back memories! I attended UC Berkeley back in the mid-80s, but I hadn't visited the area around campus in at least a decade. It looked pretty much the same, albeit cleaner. I missed seeing old landmarks like Cody's Books, though. I remember when it closed a few years ago. End of an era!

Anyway... we had a lovely Thai dinner, then strolled up to Zellerbach Hall to hear tenor Jonas Kaufmann sing a recital of Schumann and Strauss lieder. What a lovely lyric tenor voice! The hall was packed, and the audience absolutely loved him. He got called back for three encores.

I've actually been a fan of JK's for awhile now, though this was the first time I've seen him perform live. In fact, he was the physical inspiration for David Lewis, one of the heroes of my menage novel ENTANGLED TRIO. This might help you understand why:



Rawwrr, huh? Kinda like a German Sendhil Ramamurthy (aka Mohinder on Heroes). I just want to tug my fingers through those flyaway ringlets! If he wasn't one of opera's hottest new stars, he could make his living as a romance cover model!

Gorgeous and talented - what a combination! :)